Early Modern Diplomatic Ceremonial: A Systems Approach

Abstract

Early modern diplomatic ceremonial? What a dull subject! This is a widespread reaction among people who have given matter any thought. Few individuals today have any desire to study ceremonial: procedures, traditions, rights, and hopes which governed behavior of diplomats and rulers when they were performing official acts with one another. Indeed, some early modern diplomats themselves expressed idea that ceremonies were useless, time-wasting affairs. A French diplomat in Denmark called ceremonial problems bagatelles, while an Englishman in France referred to them as vanities and a Dutch diplomat in Vienna wrote about these futilities.' The poet-diplomat Matthew Prior talked about the old road of ceremony and nonsense. Pierre Villars was embarrassed in 1676 that while rest of Europe was involved in a war his great affair in Savoy was debating whether his wife would be given a straight-backed chair or a chair with arms.2 Although early modern diplomats devoted much time and energy to ceremonial matters, there is no question but that many of them thought such concerns were foolish. The attitudes of historians toward early modern diplomatic ceremonial can be described as ambivalent. Some scholars deride it as ''comedy while others talk in terms of ridiculous practices and trivial insults or casually dismiss ceremonies as unimportant.3